


You Can Go Your Own Way

by tacomako



Category: Kurt Seyit ve Şura (TV)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Issues, Organized Crime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23538628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacomako/pseuds/tacomako
Summary: Alexandra Verjenskaya is done being bossed around by some revived sense of decorum, and Seyit Eminof has found that being at the top is a lonely place to be. Fate is a funny thing, trust is a rotten game, and not everything lasts forever. Modern AU
Relationships: Seyit Eminof and Alexandra Verjenskaya
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. An Awkward Interruption

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this I should tell you this. This fic is based on the mini series about the lives of Kurt Seyit Eminof and Alexandra Verjenskaya. It is in those works that this story finds it’s inspiration, their story is (in my opinion) tragic. In an attempt to repair my broken heart, I have written this.

Alexandra Verjenskaya was done being told what to do. Her entire life was just a series of things she could and couldn’t do, things she could and couldn’t say, and she was done. There wasn’t much holding her to her house after her dad died, so when she graduated she took a job in the next state over, and without much notice, she left.

And that’s where she is now, getting off the plane a few states over, debating when to turn her phone on. She knew that she should because she hadn’t really told anyone, but she wasn’t quite ready for the missed calls and texts from her mom, or her aunt, or from Tina. She couldn’t answer them right now because they’d convince her to get back on the plane. And she wasn’t going to do that. For once in her life she was going to do something for herself. Okay, maybe the second time in her life. The only person who told her that if she wanted to go to school, she should go was her dad. But he wasn’t here anymore. It used to be the two of them against the world, and now it was just her. Her and her dwindling confidence. Deciding to just go for it, she steps out of the airport and out into the world.

* * *

Seyit Eminof did not like being wrong. At all. As the oldest, his brothers looked up to him and his father expected the best from him. His father had ‘retired’ from the family business a few years ago and now it was his. Kind of. When his father ‘retired’, he gave most of the control to Seyit and his brothers, but for someone who gave this up, he was very involved. Checking on shipments, collecting debts and such was a very involved job for an old man. But that didn’t matter, he loved his family, and his father focusing on his own little jobs kept him from micromanaging Seyit. And that was okay.  
But tonight Seyit was wrong. He was wrong to make that deal with those damned Irish, and he was wrong to send Vladimir to close that same deal with them so that he could sleep for more than four consecutive hours. And now he had to fix this. If they thought that they could cheat the Eminofs and get away with it, they were wrong. Very very wrong. And as soon as he could get there, he was going to raise hell.

* * *

  
The taxi had been a mess. And overpriced. But that was behind her now as she stood in front of the hotel she booked a room for days ago. With bags in hand, she walked into the building to hopefully go to her room and sleep.

The desk attendant wasn’t very interested in doing her job, and the man in the elevator stared just a bit too long at her, so arriving at her room, and falling onto the bed was well deserved in her opinion. While she was getting ready for bed, she noticed how many things she had forgotten. Like shampoo and conditioner, and foundation, and more than one hair tie. She has to go shopping tomorrow. Or she could call her sisters to send that- and everything else she forgot- to her. However, to get them to do that she would need to call them. And for that she would need to turn her phone on. Just wanting to no longer agonize about this she just turned it back on and immediately it came to life, buzzing with messages and missed calls.

12 missed calls  
8 new voicemails  
34 new text messages

Shit.

* * *

  
Midnight was not an ideal time to be woken up for Seyit, but here he was, speeding to the warehouse to fix this mess. And what a mess it was. When he pulled up, guns were already drawn.“Seyit! My old friend, what took you so long?” Donovan called out to him. Side note, Donovan was a class A asshole. Also under no circumstances were they friends of any sort.

“Donovan, what seems to be the problem?” he asked without much emotion.“Ah, see well, your brothers are trying to swindle me out of my money,” he replied, trying to sound casual. But something was off. Seyit looked at Vladimir, “He doesn’t have the money.”

  
“That’s not true-”

  
“Shut up,” Seyit was pissed. He got out of bed for this? This? This was total and complete bullshit. “If you don’t want it at the price that was agreed upon- then we’re done here.” Donovan said nothing.

“So how will it be Donovan? Take it or leave it?”

  
“I suppose we’ll take it.” He snapped, “but I won’t forget this Seyit Eminof”

  
“Neither will I Donovan.” he rolled his eyes as he turned to his brothers, who were double checking that they had all the money promised. They stood in silence as Donovan and his men loaded the crates into their trucks. Only after they pulled away did Vladimir speak up,

  
“Sorry Seyit, they saw it was just us and tried to talk the price down.” Seyit put his hand on his shoulder,

  
“It’s alright. We won’t be dealing with them for awhile now. I don’t like him,” and with that the Eminofs went home.

* * *

  
Going to bed without answering any of the messages was a bad plan because now she felt guilty. And this morning she was sitting in a coffee shop looking through the paper for listings when she decided she should probably respond to the texts and the calls. She thought it would be best if she called Tina first,

  
“Şura!?”

  
“Hi Tina”

  
“WHERE. ARE. YOU.”

  
“I took that job I told you about, the one in Chicago. Remember?”

  
“WHAT!! You’re in Chicago all by yourself!? Where are you staying? Are you alright? When did you decide this? Why didn’t you tell me Şura, we’re sisters, you used to tell me everything,” Tina’s anger faded like she thought it would, and by the end she was just plain hurt that Şura didn’t tell her.

  
“Tina, slow down. I’m fine, I stayed at a hotel last night and I’m going house hunting today,” she smiled sadly, “I’ve wanted this job since the start Tina, and you knew that. I just didn’t want to tell anyone because you guys would talk me out of it.”

  
“Of course we would talk you out of this! it’s so dangerous, are you going house hunting by yourself? Why don’t you just call Petro? I’m sure you could stay with him, or he could help you find a nice and safe apartment.”

  
“I will call him next, okay? I love you, bye” she had completely forgotten that Petro was in the city too. She hadn’t seen him in years. She still had his number in her phone, but she kind of felt weird calling him and asking to stay with him. But she did need an apartment and she was very lost as to where to even start looking for one. So, she swallowed her pride and dialed his number.

* * *

  
Breakfast was tense. Osman can’t withstand their father’s questions or his disapproving glare as long as his brothers can. So their father was mad because he told them not to do a deal with them, and Seyit didn’t listen. Seyit was mad that he had to wake up to keep the Irish honest. When in reality, there was nothing legally honest about their business. But it was also a dog eat dog world. Aside from the legal cover businesses that they worked with. One of them Muhmet was preparing to take a small share in with a close family friend.

  
“Thank you for breakfast Anne, but I am going in to the office today,” Muhmet stood, “I will see you tonight for dinner.” Slowly everyone left after that, until it was just Seyit and his Father left sitting.

  
“What did I tell you about those bastard Irish?”

  
“Baba, let’s not do this right now.”

  
“What did I tell you about those bastard Irish men? Huh? Tell me, are you deaf or just stupid?” his voice was steadily rising. “Why didn’t you go? Why did you send Vladimir and Osman? If you didn’t want to deal with them then, why even make a deal with them? Hmm?”

  
“I didn’t know Osman was going to be there. I only asked Vladimir to go because I haven’t slept at all this week,” Seyit spoke with a forced calm voice as he stood, “Excuse me, I have a meeting to get to.” and without waiting for a response, he left. He kissed his Mother on the cheek, grabbed his coat and walked out the door. As he pulled out of the driveway, he grabbed his phone and punched in the number of the man he was meeting with; Petro.

* * *

  
It was nice for Petro to offer his guest room to her. But she made him promise over lunch that he would take her to look for apartments soon. It was nice to have a friend in the city, and even though it had been ages, they could easily find the familiarity of their friendship from before. They went all around the city. It was gorgeous and so big, she knew she was going to get lost. They walked past the hospital that she would be working at. And Petro insisted that she get out of the hotel today, so after lunch they collected her bags and took them over to his apartment.

In retrospect, she should’ve thought about this logically she shouldn't have been so surprised by the size of his apartment. He is currently in charge of his family’s company. It was huge -both the company and the apartment. And there was a room with a view and a bathroom down the hall. It was nice. Really nice. She unpacked a little before she went to find Petro to tell him that she was going to run to the store. She grabbed her jacket and walked into the main space, only to find Petro arguing very loudly with someone on the phone in his room. She caught his eye, waived, and left a note before she went to find the closest Target.

* * *

  
Spending the morning sitting through meetings was not an ideal way to spend a morning. Petro sat with Muhmet on one side and Seyit on the other. They were in a meeting with the accounting department or something like that, and right before lunch, Petro’s phone rang. Apparently it wasn’t something that he could put on hold or forward to his secretary because he left to take it and didn’t come back until after the meetings were finishing up.

  
Seyit followed Petro back to his office, “so tell me, what was so important that you left for the entire day,” Petro looked almost guilty.

“I had a personal matter that I had to attend to,”

  
“So personal you can’t tell your best friend?” Petro was silent as he shifted in his seat. Seyit raised his eyebrows, unimpressed with this entire situation. “Okay, fine, so you asked me to come to a meeting that I didn’t need to be here for nor did I want to come to and then you leave. Fine.” Seyit’s jaw twitched, if he wasn’t pissed off before-he was now. Petro looked like he was going to answer, when the phone on his desk rang. He reached for his phone, but Seyit got it first and put it on speaker.

  
“Petro?” it was a woman, her voice was soft.

  
“Hey Şura, what’s up?” Petro wasn’t looking at Seyit anymore.

  
“I was wondering when you were going to be back for dinner,” back for dinner. Petro ditched him in a meeting for a woman. One that he wouldn’t tell him about.

  
“I don’t think I’ll be back for dinner, I have a few things that I need to get done before tomorrow.”

  
“Oh,” she paused, “could I bring you dinner? I feel bad that you have to stay late because of me.”

  
“You don’t need to do that, it’s okay”

  
“No, no it’s not,” she paused, “you like Chinese?”

  
“Şura this isn’t necessary, really.”

  
“Yes it is, I’ll see you in a bit,” and then she hung up.

  
Seyit wanted to laugh and strangle Petro at the same time. Sure, he was mad that Petro ditched him for some girl, but he has never heard or seen someone hang up on him like that. He was such a ladies man that this was very foreign and very funny. Petro looked beyond stressed about the fact that Şura was coming to bring him dinner and Seyit was right here. They waited in silence until his phone rang again, it was his secretary. Petro had a visitor.

* * *

  
Şura had finished shopping, and then realized several things all at once. One, she was hungry and the smells coming from Chef Chen’s were delightful, two, she never talked to Petro about dinner plans, and three, she didn’t have a key to get back into his apartment. So, she called Petro.

  
“Petro?”

  
“Hey Şura, what’s up?” Petro sounded like someone was twisting his arm. She found it odd, but didn’t worry because that was clearly not the case.

  
“I was wondering when you were going to be back for dinner,” she pressed the phone against her ear as she adjusted her bags.

  
“I don’t think I’ll be back for dinner, I have a few things that I need to get done before tomorrow.”

  
“Oh,” she paused, now she felt bad, “could I bring you dinner? I feel bad that you have to stay late because of me.”

  
“You don’t need to do that, it’s okay”

  
“No, no it’s not,” she paused, “you like Chinese?”

  
“Şura this isn’t necessary, really.” It sounded like Petro ever being the gentleman, but something was still off about his tone.

  
“Yes it is, I’ll see you in a bit” then she hung up and went to Chef Chen’s.

At first, Şura thought that the worst part of this entire ordeal was going to be sitting in the restaurant and smelling everything until she was able to eat, but it really was the judgmental looks from the secretary at Petro’s office that was the worst. Perhaps it was the fact that this secretary scoffed at her when she said that she was here to see Petro that made her want to rip that girls head off, but Şura chalked it up to her being hangry. To whatever she chalked it up to, she was still frustrated enough that when the lady held out the visitor’s badge to her she snatched it out of her hand and left with a snippy thanks.

  
It was only until she reached Petro’s office did she realize how swanky this place really was. Sure, she knew that he worked high up in a very successful company, but somehow she didn't put the pieces together that it would look this nice. Every piece of furniture was pristine and it had that nice office smell, so of course the lady turned her nose at Şura who was dressed in jeans and smelled like cheap Chinese food.

And to really hit the feeling of not belonging and being clueless, a strikingly handsome man opened the door to Petro’s office. Time had been kind to Petro, but he was nothing compared to the man who opened the door. Their eyes meet and time seemed to stop. He was striking, his hair was a little floppy, and his eyes were light, maybe a blue green color. She felt like she could look at them all day and still not know.

  
“Şura you didn’t have to bring dinner,” Petro interrupted. She tore her gaze away from the man in front of her, and smiled at Petro.

  
“Yes I did,” she stepped into the office, “and if I had known that you weren’t alone, I would’ve brought more.” Petro shook his head as she sent him a pointed look and set the bag of take out on his desk.

  
“Well, I suppose I should introduce you two,” he gestured to the man who had now moved away from the door, “this is Seyit Eminof.” Seyit nodded his head in acknowledgement, “and this is Alexandra Verjenskaya.”

  
“You can call me Şura,” she told him. The only person who called her Alexandra were people who didn’t know her and her grandmother. And she wanted to know him. “I should run back or else this ice cream is going to melt, does your doorman have a spare key?” Petro nodded. “Great, well it was nice to meet you Seyit.”

  
“And you as well Şura,” she caught his eyes again and smiled.

* * *

  
He wasn’t quite sure what to expect when he opened the door, but what he saw was not it. When he opened the door, all he could see was a vision of a woman. She held his gaze with the most clear blue eyes, they were sinfully innocent. He had been in the business for a while and knew that people’s eyes did not lie. Not when it came to an innocence like this. Where the fuck did she even come from?

  
“Şura you didn’t have to bring dinner,” Petro interrupted. She tore her gaze away from the man in front of her, and smiled at Petro. Petro is good at joining moments he is not a part of.

  
“Yes I did,” she stepped into the office, “and if I had known that you weren’t alone, I would’ve brought more.” Petro shook his head as she set the bag of take out on his desk. They seemed to work well together, almost like an old married couple. And for some reason that struck a chord within Seyit. It was clear that either she didn’t know what Petro did behind closed doors or she didn’t care.

  
“Well, I suppose I should introduce you two,” he gestured to the man who had now moved away from the door, “this is Seyit Eminof.” Seyit nodded his head in her direction. He didn’t know why he hadn’t said anything beyond that. He was popular in the tabloids and surely there was something else that he odd, “and this is Alexandra Verjenskaya.” that was odd, he was certain that he had referred to her as something else. He assumed that it was a term of endearment, but he hadn’t introduced her as anything to him.

  
“You can call me Şura,” she told him. It’s possible that he was imagining things, but he thought he could hear some annoyance poking through in her tone. It took all Seyit had in him to not bust out laughing. First this girl hangs up on Petro, and now she’s sassing him in front of others? He had to know more. “I should run back or else this ice cream is going to melt, does your doorman have a spare key?” Petro nodded. “Great, well it was nice to meet you Seyit.” then it struck him, they were living together. Long enough that she was bringing him dinner and buying ice cream, but not long enough that she had her own key? That doesn’t add up.

  
“And you as well Şura,” she caught his eyes again and smiled, and only because his back was completely to Petro, did he smile back. The door clicked shut. Seyit waited a moment before he spun around and interrogated Petro,

  
“Is she why you ditched me this morning? You left me for your newest fling?”

  
“No! Well, yes she’s why I left this morning. But she’s not my newest fling, she’s an old family friend. She moved here on a bit of a whim, didn’t know anyone else in the city, so she’s staying with me until she finds an apartment,” he shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. Of course it wasn’t. Seyit huffed. “And what, Seyit the Wolf couldn’t handle a meeting by himself?”

  
“No,” he ran a hand down his face, “that’s not it and you know it. I hate those fucking meetings. I only came because you asked and then you ditched me. And you didn’t want to tell me about it.” he sighed, “What’s going on Petro?”

  
“Sorry, it was kinda short notice-” Seyit scoffed at that, “-but so was she”

  
“What’s her last name again?”

  
“Verjenskaya”

  
“Verjenskaya? Why does that sound familiar?”

  
“Her late father’s company did a bit of business with us,” Petro fixed Seyit with a glare, “but she doesn’t know, and it might ruin her to know that her family is so mixed up in this, so we will not be telling her anything about that.” Seyit nodded.

* * *

  
The entire ride home, Şura could not stop thinking about the man in Petro’s office, Seyit Eminof. He was drop dead gorgeous and his voice sent chills down her spine. He said all of 5 words to her, but she kept coming back to how her name sounded when he said it. It was delicious. All of those things aside, something felt off. He seemed out of place. She knew that people high up in a company didn’t typically have beards, but he didn’t seem to be part of that world. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly that told her that, but he just seemed to be a bit out of place.

  
Maybe it was the beard.

Yeah, it was the beard.

* * *

  
Seyit left shortly after talking about Şura, and once he was in his car, he sat for a minute. He wanted to see her again. Now would be preferable, and every minute for the rest of his life would be just perfect. He had to get home before he went to Petro’s apartment. I have to go home. But he could not find it within himself to put the keys in the ignition. He sat there until his phone rang. He looked down, and was suddenly disappointed that it wasn’t Şura. How could it have even been Şura? It was Osman, but Seyit just watched it ring. He let it go to voicemail. Osman’s voice still sounded like a child’s, especially over the phone. But listening to the voicemail didn’t do anything to motivate him to go home. Osman was just wondering where he was. Or more so the family was wondering and Osman called before everyone else could.

Seyit sighed, and picked up the phone to call Osman back. He held the phone up to his ear as he pulled out of the parking structure for the building. As the phone rang, he hoped to avoid having his entire family call him right now.

* * *

  
As she washed her face, she could only stare at her reflection. She was pale, and kind of bland if she was being honest. That didn’t matter though, right? She wasn’t looking for a relationship right now. That was one thing she figured out on the plane, she was okay right now because her new adventure was a solo one. And a lonely one. She sighed, Seyit Eminof wasn’t going to make this easy.


	2. Old Friends and New Ends

Petro was reluctant to help move Şura into her new apartment. He kept saying that she could just stay with him or that it was in an unsafe neighborhood. He seemed to bring up any and every reason for her not to move out.

  
“Petro, I’ll be just fine,” Şura continued to fold clothes and put them in her suitcase, she looked at Petro standing in the doorway looking grumpy and not offering to help, “I’m literally moving like one block away.” he just continued to look grumpy. Şura just rolled her eyes. She pulled the zipper on the packed suitcase and looked around the room that she had stayed in the past month.

  
“You can stay here longer if you want,” Petro wasn’t looking at her, he had moved to the window and played with the curtains.

  
“I don’t want to impose any longer,”

  
“It’s really nothing,” he finally looked up at her.

  
“I’ll still see you, we can go for lunch sometime,” she smiled at him, “you could even come furniture shopping with me,” he perked up a little bit at that. “Now help me carry these heavy boxes.” He laughed a little at that.

* * *

The days were terribly long when he didn’t need the time and short when he did, but that’s just how it went. He felt like he saw less and less of Petro even though they needed to meet preferably before the gala. And seeing less of Petro ment hearing even less about Şura. If he closed his eyes he could see her. She was so little, and her eyes were so blue. But as innocent as they were, there was a weariness to them. He would almost say it broke his heart to see that. Almost. It was debated if he even had a heart sometimes, and in all honesty, he didn’t even know himself.

* * *

One thing Şura did not bring with her was a formal gown. She didn’t think she’d need one. Simple as that, she moved here to catch a break from all things family related, but here she was, calling Tina to send her her favorite gala dress.

  
“No Tina, the green one-” she sighed, facetiming her sister had been good in theory, but very very bad in practice.

  
“Şura, that dress is so old, if you want to wear that one, you’re going to have to buy a second one because I think I’m going to throw this out,” Tina held it at arms length, examining it with a look of disdain.

  
“Tina, do not throw that dress away,” Şura’s voice was hard before she continued a little softer, “that’s one daddy bought for me.” Tina nodded and gave a silent sigh as she brushed off some lint that wasn’t there before putting it back in the closet.

  
“Ooh look at this one Şura!” Tina held up a cream one that Şura hadn’t had a chance to wear yet, “I don’t think I’ve seen you in this one yet. I’ll send this with a little jewelry and some other formal things that you didn’t bring,” she set the dress down and began to mutter to herself, “I don’t know why you couldn’t just buy new things there but-”

  
“Tina! I don’t want to buy new things because I like my old things! But you are the best for sending all of this to me, I love you” Şura smiled.

  
Tina playfully rolled her eyes, “love you too.” And with that, she hung up.

  
\- - - - - - -

  
The hospital had her working 12 hour shifts, and while that was to be expected, she was still drop dead tired. Petro had more or less guilt tripped her into going to a charity gala with him. One of the things she’d hoped she’d left behind was these big events. She loved them, but also hated them. She hated that she had to sit through the whole thing and that everyone was overly pretentious. But what she did love about them was the fact that everyone was so dressed up. She loved the way that the gowns fit and the sheer elegance of them, and if she had to put up with leering old men and sneering old women, then so be it. She usually had Tina and some nice old ladies, but now Tina had a boyfriend, and the old ladies always wanted to know where hers was. But at this gala, she would only know Petro. Just Petro. She knows how well connected he is, and to maintain those connections, you can’t just talk to your date the entire time. Fuck, this is going to be long.

  
But this was a Friday problem, right now, it was time to pass out until her next shift.

* * *

  
Celil and Tatya came home on Wednesday. It was good to have them home. While Vladimir and Mesa were fine men, Celil and Seyit were closer than the rest. They had grown up together. When Celil’s parents died, Seyit’s mother took him in as her own. They were inseparable. When Celil met Tatya, it was more or less love at first sight. It could only be chalked up to fate that they met at some gala, and then when Seyit and Celil had to go to meet a client, they ran into her again after one of her shows. Tatya had been a professional ballet dancer. If you would ask her today, she would still say she still is a professional dancer, but she really just ran the studio now. If Seyit was worried about losing his best friend to some snooty bitch, he would have been so far off it’s laughable. Tatya seemed to fit in just fine with them, and seemed to keep them in line more often than not. Celil and Tatya were a good match, there was no doubt about it, but it made him long for someone of his own. And in the pursuit of honesty, he couldn’t look at any woman without comparing them to Şura. But as happy as he was to have them home, he was not,

  
“Seyit?” Tatya snapped her fingers in his face, pulling him out of wherever he was in his mind. “Ah, there you are. Are you alright?”

  
“I’m fine.”

  
“Really Seyit? ‘Fine’?” Celil did not look convinced in the least, “something is clearly bothering you, so, what is it?”

  
“It’s nothing really,” Seyit tried to brush off their questions, and in a desperate attempt, he changed the subject, “Celil are you coming with tonight?”

  
“Yeah,” Celil frowned. “Don’t try and change the subject, something is bothering you.” Seyit did not want to talk about Şura right now. “Did something happen? How were those meetings Petro made you attend? Terrible as always?”

  
“The meetings weren’t terrible,” Seyit was desperate to get away from this, it was dangerously close to Şura.

  
“Are you drunk? You hate those meetings,” Celil looked blown away.

  
“Celil, honey, let’s just drop this for now,” Tatya picked up on Seyit’s discomfort as she leaned into Celil, “But I would like to know one thing,”

  
“And what would that be?”

  
“Well, will Seyit the Wolf be at the charity gala on Friday?” she grinned and her eyes had a mischievous glint.

  
“I suppose so,” Seyit shrugged.

  
“Oh, don’t sound so put out!”

  
“Yeah Seyit,” Celil cocked his head, “I thought that you loved these things, you always leave with someone. What’s so bad about that?” Tatya elbowed him, “for Seyit!”

  
Seyit gave a playful sigh, “I guess I’m just worried about saving myself for marriage.” He grinned as Tatya rolled her eyes with a smile and Celil laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and thank you again for reading my fic! Please leave feedback as you are able :)


	3. It's Gallantly a Gala

Her dress was chiffon. It glided behind her as she held fast to Petro’s arm. Her sister had sent a cream dress she hadn’t yet worn along with gold and pearl jewelry. It was lovely- really- but the dress hadn’t been hemmed as there was no time after she received it in the mail. That meant that she had to wear the heels that Tina had sent, they weren’t overly tall, but she was still wobbly. She tried to tell Petro that this was going to be a real issue for things like stairs and walking and dancing, but he just chuckled and said that he’d just have to hold her tight.’ there were a few stairs leading up into the building, but to get down to the banquet hall, there was at least one flight of what can only be described as a grand staircase.

Şura couldn’t bear to look at the sea of people watching them as they descended, so she picked up the hem of her dress and made sure to watch where she stepped. As they reached the bottom few stairs, Petro’s voice broke her concentration as he called out to someone as they approached them.

“Seyit”

Her foot missed the step.

* * *

Celil and Tatya only served to point out all the women he had slept with and all those he hadn’t. He loved them and they were his best friends, and they were annoying as hell. He was really only half listening until Celil pointed out that Petro was coming down the stairs with his date. _His date_. He whipped around to watch. _Şura_. She was a vision in that gown. Her hair was pulled back in a braid and a few delicate curls had escaped and moved with every little movement she made. She never took her eyes off her feet. He began to walk towards the foot of the stairs because he had to talk to Petro about something. Also Şura was there. He would go to 1 million meetings if it meant that Şura would spend just _one_ day with him. His gaze was pulled from her as Petro called his name. His heart swelled when her head jerked up at the sound of his name. She wanted to see him. But because she was looking up, it meant that she was no longer looking at her feet. And she overstepped. Without thinking, he took a step forward and he was there. Catching her.

It was a little surreal holding her. She was small, and with her heels on she couldn't have been taller than 5’5”. And she was cold. Her hands especially. But before he could say anything, she was simultaneously stuttering out an apology and a thank you.

“Thank you so much- this is so embarrassing- oh my god- I’m so sorry-- ahahaha- I can’t believe I just fell I should be better at this by now” she was straightening out her dress and Petro was trying to check her for bruises. But she wasn’t talking to Petro, only to him. She didn’t even seem to notice the fact that he was checking her over.

“Don’t worry about it Şura,” Her head jerked up, and it was like she looked right into his soul.

* * *

In the moments that she was in free fall- Şura was ready for the good Lord to take her. Right then and there would’ve been a perfect time. It was beyond embarrassing her, a grown woman, falling down the steps because she didn’t look at her feet for three seconds. But she didn’t even know these people- except Seyit. Seyit.

Oh fuck.

And then as if by the grace of God, she fell into someone’s arms. She first thought that it was Petro, but he couldn't have moved fast enough to catch her head on like this. Also, he was barely half this muscular. Or this warm. When she was placed back on solid ground, she immediately rambled an apology and a thank you to her savior.

“Thank you so much- this is so embarrassing- oh my god- I’m so sorry-- ahahaha- I can’t believe I just fell I should be better at this by now” she was brushing off her dress and trying to keep herself from turning too red in the face.

“Don’t worry about it Şura,” Her head jerked up, and she looked right into the eyes of Seyit. His eyes were a soft kind of ice blue. As much of an oxymoron as that was, she only saw the ice because of her friend from work. Kelly. When Şura had asked what Kelly knew about Seyit Eminof, Kelly all but dropped her lunch. But here she was, looking into the eyes of her savior, Seyit Eminof.

“Won’t you introduce us to your date Petro?” a voice tore her gaze away from him. She looked to see a man and a woman. The man must’ve been good friends with Petro as he went up and slung an arm around his shoulder.

“Of course, Celil and Tatya Kaimanof, meet Alexandra Verjenskaya,” he gestured. Şura tried very hard not to roll her eyes.

“Please, call me Şura,” she said as she stuck out her hand to them. The man- Celil- laughed heartily as he gave a firm shake.

“I like her already Petro!” His wife also looked amused, but the sparkle in her eye was almost mischievous. “So, _Şura_ ,” he was cut off by someone announcing that the presentation was going to start- and that meant dinner.

“Come, you both must sit with us,” Tatya’s voice was smooth and strong. Like a mother’s. But Şura wasn’t given much of an option as she was pulled her along by the elbow towards the table. The men just followed.

Şura sat in between Tatya and Petro, and directly across from Seyit. Celil sat next to Tatya and seemed to be engaged in an important conversation with both Petro and Seyit. Tatya turned to her,

“So, how long have you and Petro been together?” Şura choked on her wine.

“No, Petro and I aren’t dating,” the wine burned her nose, Tatya cocked her head, urging her to elaborate. “We are old family friends, when I moved here, I stayed with him until I was able to find an apartment of my own.” Tatya nodded along.

“When did you move here?”

“About 2 -3 weeks ago.”

“Where from?”

“Boston,” Şura wanted to end this line of questioning, or better yet, for the ground to open up and swallow her.

“Petro said your last name was Verjenskaya” she nodded, “That sounds really familiar….”

“Yeah, it might, my father did quite a bit of business with Petro’s family.” Tatya nodded, not seeming to notice her use of the past tense. Şura could feel his gaze from across the table, she looked up and met it briefly.

“So how do you know our residential wolf?” Tatya had a growing smirk.

“I’m sorry, who?”

“Seyit,” Tatya looked confused, “Seyit the Wolf.”

Oh

* * *

Her eyes were so big and innocent. Like holy shit, where did she come from? He couldn’t pull his eyes away from hers. So he stayed there, allowing her to look into his soul.

“Won’t you introduce us to your date Petro?” Celil and Tatya materialized beside him. Maybe they followed him over. He wasn’t focused on that right now.

“Of course, Celil and Tatya, meet Alexandra Verjenskaya,” he gestured. Şura smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Please, call me Şura,” she said as she stuck out her hand to them. Celil laughed as he shook it.

“I like her already Petro!” Tatya also looked amused, but the sparkle in her eye was something to be concerned about. “So, _Şura_ ,” he too was relishing in the defiance of this woman. But he was cut off by someone announcing that the event was starting.

“Come, you both must sit with us,” Tatya left no room to even try to argue because she was already pulling Şura over to the table. They could only follow.

Tatya pulled her into the seat next to her and Seyit ended up sitting across from her. Petro and Celil were trying to engage him in a conversation about some shipment, but he was only half listening. He was watching Şura. He didn’t really care that he was staring, but she must’ve noticed because she looked up and flashed him a smile. Tatya being Tatya noticed, and when she turned to talk to Şura again, Şura looked bewildered. He strained his ears to hear them, but was called directly upon after Petro got up to take a call.

“Who are you-” Celil followed his gaze, “ohhh- you rascal! You already know Petro’s date! Tell me- does she know? Has she fallen victim to Seyit the Wolf?”

“No,” he scowled, “I met her once when she first got here. Petro says that her dad did some _business_ with us- but she doesn’t know about it and we aren’t supposed to mention it to her for whatever reason.” Celil looked like a kid on Christmas, “but I think you will be excited to know that she has been like that since day one.”

“Like what?”

“Talking back to Petro,” Seyit smiled

“That’s amazing,” Celil smiled back. “How does he know her? If she doesn’t know about the business...”

“Petro said that they’re old family friends,” he shrugged, “but for someone he ‘hasn’t seen in forever’ he sure does a lot for her.”

“Like what?”

“He abandoned me in a budget meeting, not even ten minutes in,” a spark of recognition flew in Celil’s eye, “and then he didn’t come back till after dinner, and she shows up and I learn that they are staying together until she finds an apartment.”

“No fucking way,” Celil looked beyond shocked, “do you think they’re fucking?” Seyit’s jaw ticked.

“No” They turned to look at who was answering a question they were not asked.

Petro was back.

* * *

“Oh, I met him when I went to drop off dinner for Petro on my first day here,” she smiled fondly while trying to keep the blush from turning her into a tomato. “I felt bad because I kinda showed up out of the blue and though he’ll never admit it, I’m sure I pulled him out of some meeting because he then had to work late after he moved me in.”

“Oh,” Tatya sounded almost disappointed. Şura decided it was time to jump ship on this line of questioning.

“Tell me about you, how long have you and Celil been married?” Tatya seemed to perk up at that.

“Well, we’ve been married a little over 2 months, and it must’ve been two or three weeks since we got back from our honeymoon,”

“That’s amazing! Do you have pictures from your wedding?”

“Of course!” she whipped out her phone, and started showing her photos of the wedding. Şura oohed and aahed at all the photos of Tatya in her wedding dress, and she noticed a few familiar faces that kept showing up over and over. Seyit, Celil, and Petro.

“How long have you guys all known each other?”

“Oh, they’ve all known each other forever. I met Celil- oh my god, how many years ago- at least 8 years ago” Şura was impressed.

“So do they all still see each other? Or are these events like the only time?”

Tatya looked confused, “They all work together”

“Oh, all within the same company?”

“Same compa- oh yes- they all work in the same company.” That sounded a bit fishy, but who was she to dig deeper into a topic Tatya clearly wanted to avoid?

* * *

“Oh hey Petro, when did you get back?” Celil was going to get them all shot one day. Only God knows how many people he’s shot for less than something like that.

“Just now,” his voice was strained. He stood there for a few moments, and then turned to Şura, “would you like to dance?” she nodded and took his extended hand as he led her to the floor where there were a few couples.

They all watched as they danced, Petro must’ve said something because he and Şura seemed to be laughing up a storm.

“Well, would you boys like to know what I learned about Petro’s date?” Tatya had turned away from the floor and looked absolutely giddy with the prospect of comparing notes on this girl.

Celil threw his arm around her, “tell us everything my darling wife.”

“Okay,” she grinned, “she’s from Boston, just moved here 2-3 weeks ago, and she’s not dating Petro- though she did stay with him until she found an apartment. But I’m fairly certain that that is a recent development. She doesn’t know about the businesses you all run, however her dad is in business with Petro.” She took a deep breath, “she’s really nice and while she seems naive she knows her shit, and wouldn’t hurt a fly, so Seyit- I swear to god Seyit, if you hurt her I will cut your dick off.”

“Wow sweetie, that’s quite a bit from a girl you just met.”

“I know, I like her a lot.” she said as she leaned into Celil, “did you learn anything?”

“As a matter of fact, we did,” Seyit didn’t say anything, he just looked at Celil, “we learned that our dear friend Petro may have a crush on this young lady- but is not currently doing her. Seyit said that he abandoned him in a budget meeting to go and move her into his apartment. And since day one, she has been giving it right back to Petro! Apparently she just showed up at his office building with food! How great is that?” he turned to Tatya, and in a stage whisper, “and do you want to know a juicy secret? I’m thinking that Seyit has a crush on her.”

“Well, that’s good because anytime I mention Seyit, she gets so flustered,” she whispered back. Seyit only raised one unamused eyebrow at them. “Really Seyit, don’t try to tell me anything else because I saw you staring at her, and I saw her smile at you.”

“I think we should let Seyit think of a plan of action, and we should go and put all of the other couples to shame on the dance floor.” Tatya smiled as Celil led her to the floor, leaving Seyit to himself and wondering where the bar was.

* * *

Petro was an excellent dancer, and although Şura has been to far too many dance classes for one person, heels made it harder. And as if she could expect anything else, Petro was a gentleman about the entire ordeal. Although after a while, it was funny. He would make little sarcastic comments about her stepping on his toes, and whether she planned to or not, she would step on his toes at some point. That only left them to laugh harder at themselves.

“I don’t think I’ve told you yet tonight, but you look beautiful Şura,” his eyes were a soft brown and he seemed to have an adoration for her in his eyes.

She blushed, “thank you, I must say you look quite handsome yourself,” he smiled back at her. She looked over his shoulder at their table, over at Seyit. Petro followed her gaze.

“Let’s take a break,” she nodded in agreement and as they were on their way back, Celil and Tatya got up to go out to the floor. She sat heavily in her chair, and smiled at the couple dancing. They were quite good. Petro’s phone rang, he excused himself to go answer it.

“Tatya used to be a professional dancer,” Seyit was looking right at her. She had forgotten that he was there.

“Used to?”

“She retired a while ago after she was injured.”

“That’s too bad, I would have loved to have seen one of her shows.” she smiled sadly at them. But she turned back to look at the man with piercing blue eyes, “she said that you have all known each other for a long time.”

“Did she? I suppose so, we all went to school together, and our families are very close.” he looked at her. “Petro said that you two are also family friends.”

“Yes, it’s the reason I connected with Petro when I moved here. My mother freaked out, and so I called him to pacify her.”

Seyit chuckled a bit at that. “Does everyone call you Şura?”

“Oh,” she laughed, a little thrown off by the question, “everyone but my grandmother. I don’t know why he keeps introducing me otherwise.”

“Would you like to dance?” if the question before didn’t throw her off, that one certainly did.

“I’d love to,” she smiled and took his outstretched hand. She’d be lying if she said that there wasn’t a jolt of electricity when she touched him. But she would be lying if she said she didn’t like it.

* * *

He watched Celil and Tatya go out to the floor, and started looking around for a bar or a waiter. He ditched those plans as soon as Şura came back to her chair, and smiled at the couple on the floor. He watched her while she was dancing, she obviously knew how and was most likely professionally taught. Petro’s phone rang, he excused himself to go answer it. And without much thought, he built up the courage, and said whatever was in his brain at that moment.

“Tatya used to be a professional dancer,” Seyit was looking right at her, she turned to face him.

“Used to?”

“She retired a while ago after she was injured.”

“That’s too bad, I would have loved to have seen one of her shows.” she smiled sadly at them. But she turned back to Seyit, “she said that you have all known each other for a long time.”

“Did she? I suppose so, we all went to school together, and our families are very close.” he looked at her. “Petro said that you two are also family friends.”

“Yes, it’s the reason I connected with Petro when I moved here. My mother freaked out, and so I called him to pacify her.” Seyit chuckled a bit at that.

“Does everyone call you Şura?”

“Oh,” she laughed, she had a nice laugh, “everyone but my grandmother. I don’t know why he keeps introducing me otherwise.” still so ballsy. If she could be, why couldn’t he?

“Would you like to dance?”

“I’d love to,” she smiled and took his outstretched hand. He relished in the jolt of electricity when she touched him. Compared to his, her hands were small and soft. As they reached the floor, she looked up at him, “I must warn you, it’s been a while, and I don’t have very good balance in these shoes,” she gave a nervous chuckle.

“That’s alright, I won’t let you fall,” he could see the blush in her cheeks.

* * *

They danced for a long time. A few times she made eye contact with Petro across the room, and he didn’t look super happy, but she didn’t really want to stop dancing with Seyit. He was a graceful dancer and he was excellent company. A while after Tatya and Celil sat down, Şura felt bad, but suggested that they go sit down. Her feet were killing her. As they made their way to the table, someone called for Seyit, he looked like he felt guilty but she pushed him in that direction.

“You two really tore up the dance floor there,” she turned to find Petro walking with her.

“Yes, he’s very… charming,” she couldn’t find the right word to describe him. Petro didn’t say anything- but made note of it. Petro wanted to introduce her to some friends of his, but her phone rang and she excused herself to go answer it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave reviews as you are able!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and thank you for reading my fic! I am Tacomako and if you are able to comment or subscribe to this work that would be a dream come true, but if not your silent support is much appreciated. Thanks again :)


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